Inventory of the Clyde Edgerton Papers, 1918-1997

These and related materials may be found under the following headings in online catalogs.

Biographical/Historical Note

Clyde Edgerton was born in 1944 in Bethesda, N.C., a small community in east Durham County. He was an Air Force pilot, 1966-1971, serving in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, 1970-1971. Following the war, he attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, earning masters and Ph.D. degrees in English education.

Raney, his first novel, was published in 1985. The plot of the novel, revolving around the marriage of a Free Will Baptist and an Episcopalian, led to Edgerton's leaving the teaching staff at Campbell University in Buies Creek, N.C., a Baptist institution. He later taught at Saint Andrew's College in Laurinburg, N.C.; at Duke University; at Millsaps College; and, beginning in 1998, at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

Edgerton's other published novels include Walking Across Egypt (1987), The Floatplane Notebooks (1988), Killer Diller (1991), In Memory of Junior (1992), Redeye: A Western (1995), and Where Trouble Sleeps (1997). His short story "Changing Names" appeared in New Stories from the South: The Year's Best, 1990, a collection published by Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill. Other works include Understanding the Floatplane (1987) and Cold Black Peas (1990), both published in limited editions by Mud Puppy Press.

Collection Overview

Because materials relating to particular works or activities may be filed in several places in the collection, researchers are advised to scan through the inventory to find all the items that may be of interest to them. This scattering is sometimes the result of preserving Edgerton's original file order (as per arrangement outlines accompanying some of the materials). Check especially Series 5. Subject files and related correspondence in the January 1995 and March 1998 additions for items that relate to materials in other series.

Note that Edgerton's original folder titles have, for the most part, been maintained.

Literary material includes annotated and revised drafts, galleys, notes, and correspondence relating to Edgerton's novels Raney, Walking Across Egypt, The Floatplane Notebooks, and Killer Diller, and to his short stories and essays. Also included are notebooks and journals containing poetry, prose, and diary entries dating from the 1960s through the 1980s.

Personal material includes correspondence with family members, friends, and military personnel during Edgerton's service from 1966 to 1971 as an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War, and correspondence with publishers, agents, other literary figures, and fans of his work dating from the late 1970s to 1990. There are also a few notebooks, journals, and logbooks of story submissions; folders containing creative writing notes, notes on writing, and journal entries; letters used as primary sources in The Floatplane Notebooks; Edgerton's military and school records; material about Edgerton's departure from the teaching staff of Campbell University over objections to the portrayal of Free Will Baptists in Raney; and a few photographs.

Materials include multiple drafts, notes, and source materials for In Memory of Junior and Redeye: A Western and galley proofs for Killer Diller. Also included are subject files that contain items relating to his novels and other material; photographs; and materials relating to Edgerton's work in audio, film, video, and CD formats.

Note that the Series 5 subject files contain correspondence, notes, and other materials relating to The Floatplane Notebooks, In Memory of Junior, Killer Diller, Raney, Walking Across Egypt, and some short stories.

Chiefly correspondence from 1966-1995; multiple drafts, notes, and source materials for Redeye: A Western and Where Trouble Sleeps; and galley proofs for Where Trouble Sleeps. Also included are subject files that contain items relating to Edgerton's novels and other material; photographs; and materials relating to Edgerton's work in audio, film, video, and CD formats.

Organization of Collection

Detailed Description of the Collection

Chiefly correspondence of Edgerton's uncle Clem R. Warren with his mother Henrietta Warren, as well as with other family members, during his service in the United States Army during World War I, 1918-1919. The letters discuss his experiences in Europe, an injury to his arm that required his discharge from the army, army life, neighborhood friends in the service, and family news.

Correspondence of Edgerton and his family, particularly his parents Truma Warren and Ernest C. Edgerton, and friends while he was a student at Southern High School in Durham, N.C.; an undergraduate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1962-1966; and during his Air Force training and service as a combat pilot in Vietnam, 1966-1971. Early correspondence consists of letters describing college life, Air Force R.O.T.C., and family and neighborhood news. Letters during the summer of 1966 reflect Edgerton's participation in an Upward Bound program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. In October 1966, Edgerton began his Air Force pilot training class at Laredo Air Force Base, Tex. He wrote his parents frequently, describing his trip to Texas, his classes, and his surroundings.

Notes, quotations, drafts of letters, stories, poems, and reminiscences chiefly from Edgerton's youth, army career, days in Key West, school years (high school, undergraduate, and graduate), and the period immediately following his father's death. Miscellaneous writings, 1958-1971, include drafts of poems and letters, reminiscences, quotes, diary entries, notes from others, and writings on flying. Writings, 1965-1973, are primarily quotations, an article on a python, and poems with revisions and notes.

A spiral bound notebook of writings, 1968-1972, contains poems, short fiction pieces, notes and ideas, and reminiscences, some pertaining to the army and flying. There is also a red spiral bound notebook containing "The Military Life--good and bad," ca. 1969-1972, containing quotations, reminiscences, and information about life at Yokata, Japan; a copy of Edgerton's Masters comprehensive exam; diary entries, 1969; notes from others; and drafts of letters to others. A third spiral bound notebook includes poems, quotations, and drafts of letters, 1970-1971. A fourth spiral bound notebook, ca. 1975-1980, includes class notes, notes on education, notes about Norman Mailer, a flyer on the Southern Baptist Convention, and song lyrics.

Clippings, notes about his experiences, and pages of a story draft make up Edgerton's "Key West" writings, ca. 1978-1980. There are also writings about the death of Ernest C. Edgerton, including a section of Raney about the death of her father. Also included are a notebook in which Edgerton recorded his dreams, 23 July 1980-20 August 1980; creative writing class and miscellaneous notes; and drafts of miscellaneous letters, speeches, writings, and songs.

Handwritten drafts, typescripts, photocopies, galleys, notes, and other versions of Raney, Walking Across Egypt, The Floatplane Notebooks, and Killer Diller. Many items contain corrections or revision by either or both Edgerton or Algonquin Books editor Shannon Ravenel.

Note that, with few exceptions, original folder titles have been maintained.

Among the drafts and revisions of Walking Across Egypt are a typescript of a short story called "Cleaning up the Dishes," song lyrics, a chapter from Raney entitled "Yard Sale," and pieces of "The Last of the Hardheads: A Novel." These writings either relate to or became parts of Walking Across Egypt. Also included in these papers is a 21 June 1986letter from Shannon Ravenel.

Included is correspondence with Shannon Ravenel, and outlines maps, graveyard plots, and copies of advertisements. Notes on Meredith include Edgerton's autobiographical notes from Texas, flight school, and the Vietnam war and pages from his 1966journal. Short stories used in the novel include "A Son's Father," "It Takes a Sorry Man...," "The Green Woods Wet," and "Enrico Review."

Professional papers include material relating to his conflict with Campbell University officials over his novel Raney, book reviews and articles, papers concerning the publication and promotion of his novels, and various writings by colleagues. The Campbell controversy material consists of notes on meetings; copies and drafts of correspondence with Norman Wiggins and other Campbell officials, supporters, and lawyers; and defense and other statements. There are also contracts, invoices, meeting minutes, sermons, and clippings. Book reviews and articles are chiefly biographical or concern subjects Edgerton found interesting, including information about Algonquin and other authors and an interview with Philip Roth. Other professional papers and promotional material consists of fliers for readings and performances, invoices, contracts, royalty statements, an Algonquin Books catalog, materials relating to a screenplay of Raney, handouts, memos, certificates, and samples of marketing and publicity material. There are also a few works by others, including stories, cartoons, and a term paper on Raney.

Files include letters from and about friends, colleagues, admirers, critics, and collaborators, as well as copies of contracts, documents, and adaptations of his works. Among Edgerton's literary correspondents are Rick Bass, Allan Gurganus, Michael McFee, and Lee Smith, as well as his publisher Louis Rubin and the cartoonist Doug Marlette. Among the adaptations are dramatizations of Edgerton's first four novels. Edgerton's novels have been the subject of much criticism (favorable and otherwise), and reviews, notices, and reader responses are included in these files. In response to most of the positive fan letters, Edgerton attached copies of his replies.

When Edgerton was in the Air Force in the late 1960s, he made several home movies using "Super 8" film. These films were shot from the air and from the ground; they show airplanes flying and friends and family. These films were apparently used as sources for Edgerton's Floatplane Notebooks. Note that these films were transferred to videotape (see Series 6.2.).

1944-1997.

Chiefly personal and literary correspondence, drafts of the novels Redeye and Where Trouble Sleeps, and subject files relating to the novels and to other activities, including the Tarwater Band and its performances; book tours and readings; and other projects, such as a nonfiction work on baseball. A large portion of the correspondence is with editors at Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, former creative writing students, fellow writers, aspiring writers, and fans of Edgerton's work.